I'm just starting out in the teaching field, but thru all the tutorials I kept remembering a teacher that always kept us engaged by telling amusing stories, giving "real life" examples of what he was trying to explain and field trips (my all time favorite). I want to use his example for my teaching motivation.
Catherine,
Sharing stories from the field are a great way to show application and relevance to students plus they do just what they did for you, catch their attention. So feel free to share those stories and get your students engaged.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Most of the students are choosing their career path for the draw of high compensation, or friend's and family advice to get a good and stable position. I think that my role as a medical diagnostic sonography course instructor is to inspire them and show how rewarding their profession could be. My goal is not only help my students become good professionals, but also feel happy and enjoy every working day filled with challenges, discoveries and patients appreciation. Providing them some real stories from my extensive practice I am trying to show how their professionalism could change someone's life. That helps the students be more responsible and take all class activities, assignments and lab training more seriously.
I agree Scott, by bringing the "passion" or "fire" into the classroom shows the students within that chosen profession that you have not only a passion for your field, but a passion to teach them what you know. "This is a strong motivator". When the students feel your passion, it excites them as to what they are learning,resulting in them wanting to learn more!
Sofia,
You are providing your students with a nice balance of both professional development and rewards through your teaching. You are right about the income that will follow their abilities in the field but also the emotional rewards that come with providing high quality professional health care to patients. Great work in both of these areas.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
First is to 'still be passionate' about your chosen field. War stories are helpful if applied in a manner that will prompt the students to want to develope their on career path to creating war
stories of their on. And certainly, exposing them to clinical sites and credible clinicians of the
trade they are pursuing can fan the flames of desire for them to strive to be a functional part of this career.
JIMMIE,
Well said. Passion for one's field and enthusiasm for teaching about it goes a long way in helping to engage students. Also your point about sharing stories and examples from the field is a good one because this form of sharing reinforces the value of the content being offered.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I find sharing the end result of Coding and Billing, sparks their interest. When students know the 'how and why' it opens the door to better learning.
As someone already posted about algebra, sometimes students don't see how what they are learning connects to the "real world". One way to help get students motivated about a subject is to show them how it impacts their daily life. For example, when I teach psychology I like to have the students describe to me in detail what they see and have them figure out why the products look the way they do and are placed where they are. This connects what they are learning in the classroom with something they experience daily and many of them will come back saying they look at shopping in a whole new light.
Tamra,
This is a good way to capture their interest at the beginning of the course so then you can walk them through the steps of learning so at the end of the course they know what they are capable of doing.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I believe that as long I, as an instructor, am motivated and excited about the course/topic that excitement will transfer to the student. Thankfully I really love my technical field and really love showing my students they can love it too.
Simina,
You are right, because excitement is catching so why not spread it around your classroom so your students can catch it as well and increase the level of motivation in the class.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
When I get to know my students, I can use their interests to create projects that will excite them as well as teach them. Most students are interested in various forms of media such as movies, music and television. These are good starting points.
Amy,
Taking a personal interest in your students brings the human factor into the educational process. As you say by knowing them better you can select projects that will make a personal and strong connection between the student and the content. When this is done then the engagement level of the students increases and learning is expanded.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I let the students know that with me I'm going to lay a foundation for the building blocks in this field. Then I relate to real work by giving then senarios of what could happen in a salon and different ways to handle the situation. And I always speak one on one with the students to get the direction they want to go in this field and I build from there with every student to get them on that track.
Melinda,
Way to go in terms of personalizing your instruction to the specific goals of each student. By you taking the time to get their input as to where they want to go and then providing them with scenarios to support their professional growth you are helping them to move closer to their career goals and create a future for themselves.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
It has been my experience to motivate learners, educators need to demonstrate passion for the subject matter. Additionally, educators also need to convey that they care about the students and their success.
One thing I do when I start a class is to connect with the students and demonstrate I care is I make an effort to learn their names and something about them that has motivated them to enroll in the program.
I teach in an intense program and it can be difficult academically. Hope is important for the student's success. To facilitate this hope, I have had the students do an activity where they visualize themselves beyond the class in their professional role, including signing their name with their professional title. This does not take long, but I usually get positive feedback.
I find humor to be a powerful tool for engagement, even if students do not get my jokes. Nothing can replace expressing genuine passion for your field and teaching to really capture the minds of students.
Laura,
Thank you for sharing this activity with us. It is a great one because it helps students to see where they are going once they complete school. The signing of their professional title is a big winner I am sure because for the first time in their lives they can visualize that before long it will actually be them with that title.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Adam,
Sharing a laugh with students goes a long way in terms of establishing a connection with them. Good point about passion for your field and enthusiasm for teaching about it. When both are present students get excited about being in class.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
